Buy it... if you aren't bothered by a predictable combination of
the simple themes from Armageddon and the wildly frenetic,
electronic chase cues from Con Air.

Avoid it... if you consider either or both of the above elements to
be trashy, or if you expect your techno-thriller scores to exhibit some
true sophistication.

EDITORIAL REVIEW

FILMTRACKS TRAFFIC RANK: #617

WRITTEN
12/21/98, REVISED 1/21/07

BUY IT

Rabin

Gregson-Williams

Enemy of the State: (Trevor Rabin and Harry
Gregson-Williams) The techno-thriller Enemy of the State is
widely considered a stereotypical Tony Scott/Jerry Bruckheimer
testosterone-laced chase flick, hailed as an above-average entry in an
ever-growing list of films that seems to be weighed down on the latter
end by disappointing flops. The film presents the idea that America's
NSA had the capability in 1998 to spy on its own citizens in frightening
ways, utilizing satellite technology to pinpoint people and
conversations seemingly at will. And that was before George W. Bush got
control of it. The subject of the film in this case is a labor lawyer
who unwittingly comes in possession of evidence damning to the agency's
top tier, and, with the help of a reluctant but brilliant ex-spy who has
a stake in the game, they elude NSA agents while deciding what to do
about the evidence. While Enemy of the State is a chase story, it
is better remembered as a snapshot of government technology in the late
1990's, whether real or imagined, and it is along these technological
lines that Scott and Bruckheimer's usual composer, Hans Zimmer, could
have had a field day. While Zimmer was reportedly signed on to the
project, time conflicts caused a handful of his Media Ventures pupils to
take the assignment with little time to spare. The resulting score by
Trevor Rabin and Harry Gregson-Williams is typically noted as an
acceptable companion to the film, though it does absolutely nothing to
distinguish itself from the field of other similar scores from the
Zimmer factory at the time. Whether this was a comment on the composers'
talents or the very short time with which they had to provide this music
remains to be determined. When you look back at Enemy of the
State almost a decade later, you can't help but get the feeling that
music like this was primarily the brainchild of Trevor Rabin, for Harry
Gregson-Williams has matured into such a more dynamic and intelligent
composer in the following years.

There has been speculation that the roles in Enemy
of the State followed similar boundaries as had been established in
Armageddon, the blockbuster score for which the two same
composers collaborated earlier in the year. If those roles stayed
consistent, then you can thank Rabin for the wild, frenetic chase cues
and Gregson-Williams for the development of the score's two simplistic,
but more sensitive main themes. Neither of the two themes from Enemy
of the State will knock you off your feet. The primary one is very
similar in structure and progression to the Irish-laced theme from
Armageddon, but without any of the notable instrumental solos.
The chord progressions march forward in the form of a static anthem,
utilizing the same synthetic instrumentation as the previous score, and
while there's something satisfying about these unchallenging movements
in a basic emotional sense, they clearly define this score as a
knock-off of limited intellectual merit. The second theme exists for the
Gene Hackman character in the film, and ironically contains instrumental
connections to several of Zimmer's ideas for Crimson Tide. While
slightly more compelling than the title theme, the cue "Brill's Theme"
is littered with increased techno-sample garbage, making it more
difficult to digest. These synthetic effects, many of which spawned from
Zimmer's library of samples, are the primary personality of the score
for Enemy of the State. There is an orchestra employed for the
project, but it consists mostly of the string section being aided in the
bass region by its synthetic equivalent. As usual, you can hardly tell
if the mid-range brass in scores like this are real or synthetic; it
doesn't really matter in the end, because there are no notable
orchestral solos in Enemy of the State outside of the trumpet in
"Brill's Theme."

The title theme would reappear only once in the score,
in the short "Free Ferry" cue that oddly dumps all the electronics for a
strictly string section layering that embodies far too much class for
the rest of the score. A light, descending, keyboarded motif runs
throughout the music, and its role is unknown. The remainder of the
score is a bonanza of percussive rhythms pulled from Rabin's
disastrously unlistenable Con Air score, with little improvement
made to the concept over the years. The chopping keyboards are the same,
the sound effects are the same, the drum pads are the same, and the lack
of ingenuity is definitely the same. An assortment of odd electronic
noises utilized as random accents include the static sound heard when
initiating or terminating a short-wave radio. Clanging metal, occasional
scraping noises, and deep heartbeat thumps in the bass region are all
tired and predictable. A few trademark Graeme Revell sounds (including
double bass thumps and cymbal manipulation from The Saint) are
even hijacked. For a film about technological gadgets and radical
advancement in surveillance, some of these sounds make perfect sense,
but their employment is so simplistic that it almost seems
counterproductive. There is a distinct and almost devious intelligence
behind the technology that the government uses to track all of us, and
yet this music makes it sound like such a blunt instrument. The score is
especially weak when attempting any emotional depth, as in "Rachel's
Found Dead," a cue in which an absence of score would have been more
effective than the drab noise produced. Light percussion in the "gotcha"
cue of "Wish You Were Here" is a relief, with fragments of Brill's
material reprised. The lasting impression of Enemy of the State
remains one of disinterest, though. For such a sophisticated concept and
sophisticated system of music-making machines, the score for Enemy of
the State has a disappointing lack of sophistication in its writing
and rendering. **@Amazon.com: CD or
Download

Bias Check:

For Trevor Rabin reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.5
(in 12 reviews)and the average viewer rating is 2.63
(in 12,975 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

For Harry Gregson-Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.97
(in 33 reviews)and the average viewer rating is 3
(in 51,516 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.